Climbing Wall

Because I foresee fewer visits to the gym in the coming months, I finally decided to buckle down and start building a home wall. Also, when will we ever have 12 foot ceilings again? I cajoled Paul to come by and help plan and build the wall -- thanks man! The most time consuming part was just anchoring the damn base board into the cement: the guy at Economy Lumber steered us wrong on the correct masonry bit size. After another visit to the lumber yard (Ashby Lumber this time), we got bigger bolts and the base board is now very solidly attached to the floor via 1/2 inch expansion bolts. Paul and I managed to get the basic frame, as well as one diagonal support up yesterday. Between yesterday evening and tonight I put in some cross bracing, painted the plywood sheets (I added some anti skid silica to the paint for roughness) and screwed two panels into the framework. I got the plywood sheet up with the help of our neighbor and some clever clampwork -- that guy has some cool tricks up his sleeve! There's still a decent amount of work to be done, but I couldn't resist bolting some holds on and taking it for a spin. It's very solid with no perceptible flex so far. Next comes the second panel. Before I do that, I need to find a cheaper source of T-nuts though.

yesterday:

Today (added cross bars)

The tape measure in my hand somehow lost a chunk of steel, turning it into a spring loaded finger slicing razor blade.


Note the clamped 2x4 under the overhang and the pushing device to the right. The trick is to clamp the 2x4, slide the plywood sheet into the small gap, then push the sheet up with the pusher. Once up, the pusher braces the sheet against the ground. Smart, but I liked my idea of getting enraged, turning into The Hulk, and throwing the plywood sheet into place better. Next time.


Sheet up, holds on:


First vertical section screwed on: